Continuing On
by Janet-Mufasa
Summary: An A.U. Sequel to "Starting Over". Through a string of events two years prior, Nathaniel and Castiel agreed to share Voaz with her consent and both be her partners, but what they didn't know was it would surely, despite all the issues and worries, continue on for the rest of their crazy lives. Written for both me and a friend on the game who inspired the Oneshot that inspired this!
1. Intro-Prelude-Thing

Continuing on – an AU sequel to Starting Over…

Prelude Thingy...

**This story contains an exclusive multiple person relationship, as in one girl and two guys who all agreed to see each other and only each other**

{{I own only my OC/Candy Voaz. My Candy Love is an otome inspired game by Beemoov Games and the art and characters (and story?) is owned by the one they call ChiNoMiKo. I am not making a profit from this story and is made just for fun. Anything and everything in this story is not meant to offend anyone, but if it does then it's best you don't read this.}}

**Note:** The back story in this fan fiction is considerably different from the original fiction from which it came. If you were a fan of the original story then you may be a little confused but not too much. Let me explain:

I do suggest you at least read the first chapter and give it a chance. I've only edited out some silly things and kept the main idea of the story.

In the original fiction "Starting Over" it was about a girl who was kind of full of herself who was a secretly an otaku and fell in love at first sight with Nathaniel, but made better friends with Castiel.

A number of things happened, including nearly evil meddling from amber, but I didn't like my writing and plot quality from my early chapters, as most people tend to not.

In this story the only thing that didn't change from the first story was how they all kind of met, and the serious part where Castiel and Nathaniel started really fighting over Voaz and Amber was totally having her way. I got rid of Voaz being a bully in her old school and changed her to a trouble child, with a few nerdy friends.

A brief overview will be presented as a bit of a prelude to the story.

Also, note that this story doesn't kick off from the end of the actual story not only because of my edits, but also because to begin with the basis for this fan fiction was inspired by an AU off-story anyway!

So with that being said, on with the show!

It all started with a fist fight, and screaming match, and a misunderstanding. Voaz Keagan was a trouble child to begin with, and after moving to a new school in an attempt to "start over" she found out that it wasn't as easy as it sounded.

She made some friends, who admittedly she didn't seem to pay much attention to, she fell in love at first sight with the student body president, who had issues of his own, made best friends with the school rebel, and got viciously targeted by a jealous and petty girl with a brother complex and an eye prone to jealousy.

She had laughed and cried and she had screamed and fought, but through it all, Nathaniel tried to break free from his tight and dead end life and Castiel learned to be a little more patient and softer with both Voaz and Nathaniel.

Dates were had, and ruined, and phones were stolen, identities too as one final loop was thrown their way before they all suddenly realised, it was mostly the meddling of Amber, but deep down the tension was truly caused by something they'd overlooked and would never have originally imagined.

They all loved each other… literally. Voaz loved Nathaniel, the hard worker who she wished to be more like and she loved Castiel also, her best friend and the one who gets her more than she wanted him to.

Castiel loved her for being cool with his jokes and sarcasm, but also not backing down like a girly girl who just does what she's told. She had guts but also had a feminine charm that he loved to pick on her for. She was over all fun to be with and he loved learning things about and from her.

Nathaniel loved her because she was studious but still found time to have fun, and be a normal teen if not eccentric at times. He looked around his bare room and his bare life and his overbearing parents and realised that this was not the life he wanted. She proved to be a source of escape, and he wanted to dare to do more.

The boys eventually ended their years long rivalry and decided they also wanted each other to be happy, and through a chain of odd and coincidental events their bond grew stronger as well and with the OK from the girl they loved they began the first step to the most interesting and crazy stage of the rest of their lives.

Then… Two years later. Graduation night.

**To be Continued!**


	2. The School Formal

**Two years later. Graduation night.**

Voaz checked herself over in the mirror and sighed, pushing her newly grown out hair behind her shoulders. She was thinking for her graduation dance and celebration night she might get it cut and salon styled but she wasn't sure.

Castiel liked the long hair but Nathaniel liked the short hair… such a predicament. Maybe something half way would work out, but then she wanted it curled…

She sighed again and decided to put on her dress. It was a long green Grace Kelly looking dress which she had found at a discount fabric store for only $45 but she paid $99 because it was nice, and she had to get it hemmed.

With it since it was so long she had to wear cork wedge heels for the first time, and was amazed to find her shoe size was smaller than she had at first thought, and to top it all off, she had bought the dress, the shoes, had the dress hemmed, bought special makeup, and was about to get her hair done all at the last minute.

Ladies and gentlemen, Victoria-Voaz-Keagan was a last minute school formal shopper. The kind that puts it off for the whole two months prior to the day and instead of planning her money ends up borrowing it all from her older brother with an IOU of the century left behind.

Okay, it wasn't THAT bad, and it was more like her older brother suddenly turned into a top end fashion stylist and decided to drag her all over town to expensive places and almost forced her to buy things.

"Darren, how did you afford all this?" she asked. He grunted from the waiting room couch across from her and lifted up his hand which was covered in furniture stain and bandaged from dropping a side table on it.

"Money. That's how you afford things.. generally." He said in his gruff voice, chuckling as I rolled my eyes.

A pretty and short brunette came up to me and lead me to a seat where a book of styles was waiting. I had decided to get it cut to my shoulders and have it tightly curled, just like ringlets.

It was no secret that even at the age of 18 I was still very much obsessed with my childhood pleasures, such as my anime and my fantasy. As a matter of fact, if Hollywood wasn't more popular with my age group I would have gone and looked for something more fairy-like than this.

But it was a school formal I told myself and the cosplay could wait until Halloween… not that it would have been cosplay.

I sighed and wondered how my lovely boys were doing. Yeah, I have two of them, and the world can't do anything about it. My good boy Nathaniel had recently come back home from an exchange in France and was going on to look into business management and accounting for his further education. He was even invited to attend a French university but he declined.

Castiel, my rebel-prince-charming was probably sitting somewhere in a tattoo and piercing shop looking for a good set of earrings to look more 'formal' for the occasion. Nathaniel had nagged him that the chunky neon spikes, and the god-knows-how-wide millimetre stretcher was a no-no.

I personally liked the stretcher which wasn't even that wide like Nat made it out to be but anyway… I'm sure they were getting just as excited as me.

Castiel let his eyes roam over a million and one earrings that he couldn't have. It peeved him to no end to be honest, seeing as he had the money and the clothes to match, plus the okay from his girlfriend but thanks to his co-B.F. he couldn't wear them.

Granted that it WAS a formal and he would most likely be better off NOT having his new bling ripped out of his ears by the nagging wife…aka Nathaniel he knew what he had to do. Plus he had dignity, and was willing to make a change for them seeing as he loved them that much, and why not? Soon after he left school he would be thrown straight into the working force and a number of community college courses and would need to look good for interviews and stuff.

From the beginning he had been living it harder than either of his companions. He was legally independent and lived alone, having to support himself since 14-16 years old. Well, he hadn't needed to financially support himself thanks to his ever generous parents and grandma but still, it was a good lesson on how to be at the bottom and then climb your way up.

A guy with white eye contacts and a half shaved head came to the counter and served him…

Some women sitting at the bus stop bench outside he caught giving them dirty looks in the shiny metal security camera. He rolled his eyes and continued to make his selection.

"Huh, stereotypical much?" Castiel muttered after leaving the shop, thinking about how he and that guy behind the counter were always looked at funny like that.

Never mind them, he'd go and get himself a really nice house and car someday with the money he worked his butt off for and he'd be thinking to himself how unhappy all these haters are going to be seeing him like that.

He shook those thoughts from his head and smiled a little thinking about how 'mature' that sounded. He'd have to admit that he was getting to be more like Nathaniel every darn day. But it was in a good way of course. He put in his keys and kicked off his shoes upon reaching home.

"Honey, I'm home!" He called to peeve his touchy room mate.

"Argh! No time for your jokes, 'Honey', I can't find my black tie anywhere!" Nathaniel cried exasperatedly. Castiel pushed open the door to the room in which he stayed and instantly nearly choked on his laughter as the whole room had been torn from the inside out.

Nat was only in a white dress shirt with his light blue boxers and a pair of black socks, as he frantically threw mounds and handfuls of socks and ties and belts over his shoulders, completely neglecting his still neatly folded pants.

Nathaniel had, apparently, obsessive compulsive disorder. It was no biggie and usually came in handy when it came to it, but when he had to put his socks and tie on before his pants it became a problem.

He swivelled around and began raking through the mountain of clothes, finding the first shoe he could and chucking it at his not-so-host like host.

He'd begun living here after standing up to his father, and apologising to his mother and applying for legal independency. Ever since he'd made amends with his family and had immensely gained their respect and trust again after proving to be able to live on his own responsibly… well if living with a strange boy they'd never met before and posing as his lover was supposed to be living on his own responsibly.

He'd have to speak to amber about that…

Maybe it was his pay check and acceptance into a French high school and then university from there that made them proud. He spoke about a third fluent French thanks to a million classes in two years, and Castiel's grandma who was in fact French which helped too, along with his studies.

He had declined the offer though because he'd never be able to live alone in a foreign country and he'd miss these two too much.

Castiel dodged the shoe and then stalked off to his room lazily. For his outfit he just put on a clean pair of black work pants, a button up red shirt, collar undone for rebel purposes, with a black and white checker-board belt and his brand new thick black studs. They were still big but were smooth and not oddly or 'unacceptably' shaped. He took out his little stretcher and slipped it on to his finger instead, since that's about the size it was in diameter.

"Nat you can use my work tie, it's black enough." He called. When at first he didn't get a response he imagined Nathaniel was ignoring him, or simply refusing to use someone else's tie, but this was clearly not the case.

Nathaniel sat in the living room with his head in the couch cushions breathing heavily, the cursed black tie in his hands, and a very cheeky and happy Demon panting pawing at the blonde. The tie had slobber all over it and was torn in a few places and had teeth holes in it.

Nathaniel looked over his shoulder at Castiel:

"Thanks… I'd really appreciate that." He said. Castiel's house, Castiels dog, Nat just sucked it up and promised to be more careful with his own laundry from now on.

**Four hours later**

Finally the formal had begun. Parents and their newly graduated sons and daughters filed in to the newly transformed Gym and took their seats at designated tables. Nathaniel was at a table with Amber's friends and was across the way from Castiel's and Lysander's table where Rosalya also sat, and Voaz and her older brother, Zach.

Zach glared at Nathaniel in a primitive sort of way. The oaf was constantly trying to kill anyone who so much as knew his sister's name but was all show and no act. Normally this was the case anyway.

Castiel on the other hand was avoiding the glares of doom because he worked with Zach now in a furniture outlet doing repairs and deliveries and had earned respect from the strange fellow.

"Who's that blondie anyway? Why's he always bumming around you and your date?" He grumbled about Nat for the umpteenth time. In public Castiel and Voaz were dating, but to Nathaniel's parents and Amber, Nat and Cas were together but using Voaz as a backup story. The lies were simple and all connected well with each other so as to make it easier.

They waited through some pretty cool speeches by the teachers, and even Mr Faraize was pretty cool tonight with a funny and kind of nerdy poem he'd written based on all the students feedback on a survey he'd conducted.

_"Though your years here have been few,_

_Most of you old and some new_

_We all had fun here and that's the truth,_

_Even when the principal's dog went loose,_

_Some tests, a concert, stolen keys_

_School holidays to do as you please,_

_Some 'ghosts' lurking beneath the stairs,_

_Worried about studies, and clothes and hair,_

_Friend were made and some moved away_

_Some even came back and were here to stay_

_The school was big, it was easy to get lost_

_The principal made sure you knew who's boss_

_Mr. Boris and I both joined the team_

_And we'll miss you all for sure it seems_

_The crazy kids, good kids, rebels and all_

_We wish you farewell and good luck for the future but tonight, have a ball!"_

Everyone clapped and some boys were silly and howled like wolves at the end of it, which was a thing they'd been doing that year as a running on gag, and everyone took some time to take in the small things they'd miss when they moved on.

After dinner and conversation, music began to play and finally Castiel, Voaz and Nathaniel were able to break free and all danced in a corner together. Voaz and nat didn't know how to dance, so they were total dorks and made up their own moves, and Castiel apparently learned to do three specific party trick dances from watching online videos which got plenty of attention from the crowds. For three hours straight the three and some select friends danced and had a great time.

When they went home that night it felt like everything would be perfect, and even though they were leaving school now to go and grow up, they felt as though they'd still be friends and keep in contact, and voaz, cas, and nat specifically felt that what they had was definitely going to last…

Until.

**Several months later.**

Nathaniel sighed and repeated himself: "I'm sorry but I'm going to study abroad after all. I may not be able to see you guys again for a long time… I… I just wanted to tell you before I left."

**To be continued.**


	3. A Half Hearted Departure

Voaz and Castiel stared in shock as their companion got up off th couch and rubbed his face , clearly trying to keep his cool.

He began to pace back and forth as he tried to figure out a way to lay it out to them gently, and as honestly as possible.

"The truth is, guys," he began…

"The truth is, I've been thinking. What we're doing has been going on for a while now, but when it comes down to it…. Don't you think it'd be silly for grown people to keep playing around like this? Someone will find out about it eventually, and I just don't want to risk it." He said.

So much for 'gently' he thought.

He eyed Castiel from the corner of his eye, overflowing with pure guilt as he tried to keep this façade. He didn't really want to break up with them, it was just too difficult for him to handle the nerves. He was a wreck, constantly worrying and always looking over his shoulder. How could he enjoy loving these two if it was causing him so much stress…

Castiel shot up from the couch at that moment and practically screamed, "YOUR'RE LEAVING US?!" his face was red and his eyes wide, a twinge in his chest present that he'd not felt in a long time. It confused him, why tears were forming, and the absolute rage over this simple declaration was immense but he didn't know why.

Voaz stood up and hugged him from behind, both holding him back and trying to soothe him. She however was hurt too.. to hear him say things like that, was just too much for her to bear. However she had learned to control herself in situations like this.

Shaking still with rage, Castiel robotically let himself be seated by Voaz as Nathaniel continued.

"i… I'm sorry. I don't want you to get the wrong idea. It's not that I want to leave at all." HE sighed and sat down again, facing them.

"I just feel that, it's time we separated… for our own goods. If you two wish to stay together still, then that's okay but I can't take this stress anymore." He finished.

Castiel growled and balled his fists where he sat, "So you're just giving up? Is that it?! It's too hard for you so you just… you just quit?!" he shot up again and shouted, **"I WON'T LET YOU LEAVE DAMN IT!" **

Voaz pulled him back down again, fighting tears of her own. She could understand where Nat was coming from… and she had feared this day wold come. So far it felt as though Nathaniel had only been in to their arrangement half-heartedly, as though all his initial enthusiasm had died over time.

But how he was putting it was a bit harsh… perhaps he was at a loss for the right words. Holding back Castiel was pretty tough to do.

"Castiel, I think you should leave the room. I can only see a fight coming on, so please let me and Nat talk about this alone." She ordered.

Castiel disliked taking orders, but with a stern look from her, he screamed in aggravation and complied, but made sure to make as much petty fuss about it as possible as he threw a couch cushion at the traitorous blonde and then kicked over a chair as he slammed the door behind him.

When he was gone, voaz finally choked out a sob and threw herself in to nat's arms.

He gasped at first, a bit uncomfortable with how comfortable he felt with her holding him. He reluctantly held her back and sighed again.

"We'll be here still for you if you ever need us or want us again. And you know that…" she said.

Nat couldn't help but pull her into a long and slow kiss, knowing it would probably be one of his last with her for a long time.

Voaz broke it off and stood up, holding his hands and smiled sadly at him.

"You really are terrible with words. I'll have to pay twice the fee for Cas's Anger Management class now, you jerk" she giggled and choked on another sob momentarily as he stood up with her.

He intended to walk out with a clean cut, breaking off his feelings for them and restarting, as though 'starting over again' but deep down, and right at this very moment he knew that it wasn't really over.

"Sorry I tried to be a tough guy. I just… I'm too scared for what might happen to you two." He swallowed hard and thought of Castiel.

Lately he'd been undergoing a crisis emotionally as he found he'd also been feeling a bit closer than usual with his 'co-B.F.' and before anything had time to develop just complicate things further, he had decided last minute to take the offer for Paris.

"I… I hope he doesn't take it out on you." He said. Voaz shook her head, rolling her eyes and hugged him again. This was the last time they really spoke to each other for a while…

**Paris, France**

It had been quite a few months now since he'd broken off ties with his lover, and friend. He hummed mindlessly as he watched the world go by from the bus window, people chattering away in French and the smell of rain was still prominent from outside the windows.

The bus stopped at the apartment lot he was staying in and he got up to get off, hurrying to the front gate, sheltering his head with a newspaper due to a lack of an umbrella caused by his negligence to re check the forecast.

Up a flight of stairs and almost soaking wet he pounded on the door of his apartment, waiting for his roommate to answer it. The door they kept locked from the inside at all times for security reasons.

A bit of talking and a shuffle from inside, the sound dulled by the pattering rain, indicated someone was on their way to the door.

A click and it opened to reveal a sleepy brunette young man with a black tank top despite the weather and a tired expression, his large green eyes still a bit hazy.

"Bienvenue, puis-je vous aider Monsieur?" he mumbled in a sluggish and rather off accent.

Nathaniel snorted and replied, "Merci, je vis ici. J'aimerais venir à l'intérieur, imbécile." He snickered at the young man's confused expression.

Sudden realisation came over the man and he yelped a little, standing aside and ushering the poor wet man inside.

"Oh gosh, I'm so sorry Nat! I can't find my eye contacts ANYWHERE and Amber isn't helping my sleep deprivation much… hehe" he suddenly babbled away, all life having returned.

Nat chuckled and grinned, patting the big guy on the shoulder reassuringly, "It's okay, I'm fine."

He threw the newspaper away and then turned to see his lovely model sister… literally. She was modelling for magazines now in France , which is why she came to him and offered that if he was going to Paris to study, that she'd willingly help him support himself. It was a move from her that he'd never expected to happen.

A few months had passed since she also discovered the truth behind his former arrangement with her arch rival and ex-crush. She had taken the news a little awkwardly, and still secretly hypothesized that Nathaniel had some deep and hidden feelings for Castiel. In fact to this day she was intent on trying to make him realise this.

"So, how was school, Mr. University Student?" She teased, putting down her magazine to stare at her brother, and boyfriend.

Oh, and there was that too. Never had he ever imagine this guy to become his brother in law, or even GET that far with his sister to begin with… who was the guy exactly?

Nat smiled and shrugged, "It's all good, despite the darn weather… and I'd be drier if only SOMEBODY over here wasn't so sleep deprived and blind…"he hinted

Amber's eyes widened as she took in her brothers soaking wet state and then her boyfriend's sluggish and partially absent demeanour before slamming the magazine on the table and screeching,

**"KENTIN! YOU IMBECILE!"**

Yes, despite past doings, the kind hearted soldier boy had somehow 'tamed the shrew' we could call it, but at times like this it felt more like he'd 'become her slave' which was okay with him… somehow.

She continued to reprimand him for leaving her poor brother outside in the cold, and he timidly tried to appease her, sweetly smiling through it.

"Heh," nat whispered to himself, "The boy certainly must be a soldier to be able to brave conditions like this…" he smirked. He was happy that she had found someone who, although oddly, adored her so much as he did…

And that reminded him. There was another girl he should be happy for right now, with the man that SHE was brave to deal with.

He sighed and looked at his laptop's background picture. Him and Castiel had dressed each other up as a punk and a geek, alternating personalities for fun, and Voaz had been cosplaying a favourite character of hers at the time. Rosalya had taken the photo on Voaz's phone and he hadn't had the heart to change the background ever since.

"Missing you as always… Voaz… Even you too Cas." He whispered. The flashing envelope icon in the bottom icon tray of the desktop read "1 New Message"

**…. To be Continued**

_A/N: Hey all! I hope you're liking it so far! And by the way, hehehehehe yes I totally just paired Amber and Ken together. After seeing my friend Kari use an idea vaguely similar to that in her own story, I began to mull over it's possibilities and decided to use it in my own way. OwO_

_I Hope to someday draw the picture of Nat and Voaz and Cas that I mentioned, but my anatomy needs practice. Also, yes I use google translate. Sorry about that, but I couldn't help using a bit of French in here XD_

_Please look forward to next time! And I have faith that at least someone is reading this!_


	4. 1 New Message - RE - Missing You

Voaz sighed from behind the counter at the small Asian restaurant he worked at. It was nice to be around people of her distant heritage, and not to mention the bonus of being half-otaku , but it was hard work.

People must come in to the business thinking, "Oh, it's just a waitressing job, all I have to do iss bring people their food and take down orders!"

Voaz snorted quietly. She wasn't one f those who was foolish enough to believe that, but it still hadn't prepared her for the immense amount of work the job really came with.

She got there at half past 12 to open up with the owners and other workers and the first thing they did was clean up the floors, the sushi bar, the tables and the toilets, then setting up chairs would follow and then filling of soy sauce bottles and refilling chopstick holders and napkins.

Then after that, the cutlery and silverware had to be dried after previously being steamed and sanitized about a few minutes between the sushi bar and the tables step, and then complimentary soup had to be prepared to be served for the customers at their desire.

They additionally had the waitresses working at the cash register, stocking the fridges, cleaning outside, and cleaning up tables after customers leave, and then the day ended with table set up in reverse, and washing all the dishes.

It was a long day, and in her old school shoes and hot black pants, her hair tightly braided and giving her a head ache to rival the ache in her feet, and a pain in her lower back screaming that she needed to crack it or sit down, or even lie down for that matter. She was feeling as fit as a spinster and sighed as the clocked ticked by. They only worked from 12:30 to 3:00 but it was a busy place generally, with the rising demand of Asian seafood on the market and so on, and Voaz was tired. She was grateful to be working though, and this was important to her.

Finding that her rare spare moment was probably not going to last too much longer she flicked out her phone and unlocked the screen. There was a little icon in the top icon tray that indicated she had a reply.

Her heart jolted and she eagerly made her way yo the kitchen area.

She peered around at the other workers, who were furiously working, steaming noodles, and frying vegetables and beef, rolling sushi and packing it in little bento boxes..

She loved her work here even if it meant the fatigue and reduced spare time. However right now she just couldn't resist taking a quick break.

"Excuse me, Mako, can you tell Barbara that I need to use the restroom? I need someone to watch the counter for me!" she called to a fellow waitress of hers.

Mako looked up from the tiny dollops of wasabi she was shaping and then nodded, putting her work down to take over for a brief moment.

Her heart racing with adrenaline she rushed to the bathrooms and entered a stall, locking the door and sitting down so she could look at the message in more privacy, whilst keeping up with her excuse to get away.

The loosely connected wifi from the internet café nextdoor was slow and lagging so it took what felt like eons for the message bank to update itself so she could click on her newest message.

Knowing her own social life, only three people aside from her family ever emailed her personally, and if her hopes weren't misguided it was probably the one she loved the most..

Wait, rephrase that. The one she MISSED the most; of course.

She grinned, feeling her heart beating in her chest as that familiar username brightened up what felt like her whole existence:

_th-nath1994 [Zoomail] .com_

_Subject: RE: Missing you_

_Hey, I finally got back in the results of my quarterly exams and I've passed with flying colours. It's been raining here really badly, but luckily I live close to the campus._

_As you know I've been living here with my sister, and she said to say hi, for what ungodly reason I have no clue. She just suddenly likes you… and me for that matter._

_I've made a good friend, I think you'd like to meet her. She's just as obsessed with anime as you, but she's a poor English speaker. Her husband generally translates for us, and he'd like to meet you too._

_Actually, all my friends here do, and I really wish you were here with me. Paris isn't the city of romance if you haven't got anyone to be with. I know, I know, cliché but still._

_How's the chilli pepper doing? He'd better not still be freeloading off you the way he made it out to sound like in the last letter. I keep rying to get him to respond to my emails but he either ignores them because he likes to mess with me, or is too lazy._

_Do me a favour and close the car hood on his head the next time he blows up his own car and uses it as an excuse to not speak to me for a whole two months, LOL._

_But really I miss you so much, and it's just not fair that we have to be apart. And… to be honest, I even miss him too… it was really nice living with him despite the stress, and I wish I had been gentler with him before leaving. Maybe one day I'll make it up to him in full._

_Love you, and I miss you both._

_Nathaniel 3 XOXOXO_

Voaz shakily sighed as she avoided crying this time, but still felt a tear coming on. He even missed Castiel. That was news…

They had been, of course, the best of friends again prior to their separation, and it was true that castile still felt a bit resentful for that incident. She'd just have a talk to him about that later.

For now she got up and raced back to start working again. She would reply later.

****In Paris****

Nathaniel rolled over in bed and mulled over his thoughts some more. He had just replied to Voaz, but for some reason the only one on his mind at the moment was Castiel.

He still housed the horrible feelings of guilt, and was subject to the pangs of loss in his heart each time he pictured the man's enraged and betrayed expression.

He had agreed to stay with voaz with him, and he had agreed to never hurt him again or take away from him anything that was his…

But he hadn't stayed with voaz with him. and he had hurt him. he took from Castiel something that was his…

Him. Nathaniel.

This thought rolled around in his mind, like an extremely evasive rusty bolt rolling around in a tool box that no matter how much you try to reach it to take it out, you always find another bolt there to replace it and its rust was spreading to the rest of the previously pristine and galvanized nails, and screws until the whole structure of his brain would crumble and erode away.

He missed them both, and for a long time now he'd been thinking.. was Castiel more than just a dear friend to him who's happiness he held in one of the highest regards?

Perhaps even.. there was a reason he held it so high? He didn't know but now was not the time to allow this rusted bolt to infect the rest of his tool box mind. He was handed a worn out set to begin with so anything lse wasn't helping.

He rolled again on to his stomach, the entirety of his bed sheets twisted and mangled around his being, stuck to his legs as though like a cocoon. He chuckled in frustration and amusement as he tried to un do it before he just succumbed to sleep and rested that way for a while, in a dreamless sleep.

"Castiel.." he muttered, "you missin me too… maybe?"

**To Be Continued!**

**A/N: I based Voaz's work schedule loosely on my first job. I only lasted there a week, but she lasted for longer because yes.**

**Zoomail doesn't exist, and if it does i apologise for using it. I just put the words 'zoom' and 'mail' together to create a service name for emails for them. I intend to keep it, and the mascot for the email service is a little rabbit because of yes. **

**Rabbits are fast, and cute, and sometimes wear waist coats and carry around pocket watches so they can sure as heck run an online postal service eAe**

**Regardless of any age or date specific thingies from the first fic, I now, to make it simple, believe they all are my age. 1994 hence. Nathaniel. Yes. so I guess if i'm making them 18 by this point then this story is now automatically set in late-or-mid 2012**

**enjoy!**

**PS Voaz and Castiel don't know about Kentin and amber yet XD**


	5. An 'Induced Epiphany'

Castiel rolled over out of bed and stared at the image of a certain person buzzing dimly on his phone screen. It was time to get up obviously and if it weren't for the possibility of his job and money being in jeopardy if he didn't then he would have happily gone back to sleep.

He growled a few profanities and kicked himself out of bed, disturbing his female companion as he did so.

"S'rry Voaz…" he muttered running a hand down her back and kissed her head. She rolled over and smiled at him before falling back asleep, her phone still in her hand.

He plucked it out of her hand and sat on the edge of the bed to read whatever it was that she had been going over all that day yesterday.

He stared for a long time at it and then slowly got up and dropped her phone onto the bed again. He felt really irritated suddenly and didn't want to wake up Voaz again with his verbal raging.

Nathaniel was missing him? and not only that, but the jerk had the nerve to call him a 'chilli pepper'… He grunted and shoved a chair out of his way and threw open the fridge door, scowling at the eggs and Canadian bacon in the fridge. Snatching them out he fired up the stove to sacrifice them brutally, before dumping the result on to a plate and lathering it in ketchup and maple syrup, and a black coffee- 3 sugars.

HE sat down and cursed himself. He was still thinking about nats message. It's true he had been ignoring his calls and texts and emails, but he did read them, and he listened to his voice mail, but the truth was, he felt as though he had nothing to give him, so what was the point in replying?

He had left them. Voaz and himself, he had just left them. Was he not good enough? Was he the reason? These were things he couldn't help but think that it was that made him leave in the first place.

He had been too mad at the time to really remember why he said he was going, but for whatever reason he was hurt.

Yeah, he was freaking hurt over a stupid breakup. Funny that Nathaniel should be the one he's hurt over this time around instead of the cause.

He never had considered that he felt like this for the blonde he thought as he shoved an entire egg into his mouth followed by a large chunk of meat. He always knew he was more than friends with him, but thought it was some rush he got out of gaining back his friendship status with him and not that it could be something more.

That is until he ran into Lysander one night after he initially left.

_It had been three days after Nathaniel had left for Paris, and a few weeks since he had just up and left the trio. Castiel was far beyond pissed and he was dripping with a black and green aura as he sauntered lazily down the streets._

_He had no idea where he was in Sweet Amoris, nor did he care. All he wanted to do was find a bar and drink his life away. Sure he wasn't 21 yet, but he'd always been told he looked older than he was. _

_"Probably the cigarettes…" he muttered exhaling the toxic chemicals as he slowly and bitterly wished he would just die right now._

_It was a stupid reason for why he'd begun smoking. He did it because he loved the smell of cigarette smoke and tobacco. His parents had smoked when they had all lived together and he had been obsessed with it, so that was probably a major factor in his dependence on it._

_He tossed his butt into a conveniently placed can out by the door of some bar looking place which had a flashing green sign that said "Open"_

_He hadn't paused to look at the name of the place but it appeared to also be a restaurant since there were kids inside eating._

_He stepped in after deciding he didn't like the feel of the other three he'd come across and after a flash of a fake ID he'd crafted himself with the help of Voaz's crazy brother he walked right in to the gambling and bar area. He didn't know what to order since he'd only ever had drinks of what his parents had bought on Christmas for the family when they finally migrated back from all corners of the earth (and galaxy) and so had a wide range of tastes, but they were all difficult to find._

_Deciding not to get anything yet he wandered around some more casually stealing glances at the faces around him hoping not to run into anyone he knew._

_He was just about to figure he was pretty safe when a tap on the shoulder spun him around to face an unimpressed man with longish wild ebony hair and chocolate eyes, looking down at him suspiciously._

_Castiel recognised the man as Lysander's brother, who ran a rather popular retail outlet in town that he'd been forced to hang around both by voaz, and Lysander over the years and so it was no wonder that what Leigh said next was what he said:_

_"Has the pack mule come to water himself? I think you're in the wrong side of the establishment." He smirked suddenly._

_Castiel sighed and rolled his eyes, looking away._

_"No I came here intending to forget how much I hate life." He stated in a hushed voice, hoping no one was watching. Leigh chuckled lightly and then without resisting because he had given up on life, he let Leigh drag him out of the bar area and into the restaurant side where lo and behold a table with Rosalya and Lysander was awaiting his arrival. There were two seats left, one for Leigh and one in which he was gently forced into by said man._

_The white haired friends stared curiously at him and then without question smiled and greeted him._

_"Oh, what a coincidence! Are you here with your partner…(s)?" Rosalya began using finger quotes for the 'partner(s)' part._

_Lysander who was better at reading the mood tapped her on the shoulder and shook his head._

_"Castiel, it's nice to see you. How have you been?" He changed the subject. Castiel looked between the two of them like a ping pong match with his eyes before sighing and letting it spill, as quietly as possible._

_Rosalya nodded sympathetically holding one of his hands rather against his general comfort, but he didn't complain since she was just trying to comfort him. Leigh was rolling his eyes and smiling reading how uncomfortable Cas felt holding his girlfriends hand._

_"Castiel," She began, "Maybe you feel so angry and don't know why because you didn't truly understand how you felt about him before he left? Maybe you were just about to find out and now you can't because he's gone.. maybe anyway. Who knows?"_

_Lysander cut in and then said, "Actually Rosalya may have a point. Perhaps you have something that is unfinished between the two of you which is why you feel so angry. It's not just that he left you two, it that he left YOU before you could get used to it."_

_He leaned in closer and dared to pull up something that had been running thoruhg his mind the whole time._

_"Like how your parents suddenly decided to work full time for an airline in France and you virtually never saw them again?"_

_Castiel looked at him suddenly. He had been listening to their words, and although he felt like lashing out and telling them to be quiet, like he normally would, he decided to actually listen._

_Maybe the heartbreak or whatever this was had humbled him enough to actually listen to advice. Since that day he'd begun suddenly listening to Voaz whenever she tried to tell him things, and he found a lot of his issues were being fixed._

_Why hadn't he ever listened to Nathaniel like that? Without whining or complaining or lashing out? Was what these two said on the right track?_

_"Actually, I think…." He began. He looked around at their public setting and then finished, "We should finish this conversation at your guys' place. It's not the time or place right now… and I'm starving." He muttered._

_They re-called the waitress over and he got a huge steak to distract himself with as slowly conversation turned to friendly chatter and so on._

_It was probably really late in the night after Leigh had taken Rosalya home and Lysander was the only one awak with him in the house. They sat in Lysanders rather small bedroom, which was cluttered with goth rock and victorian replicas and model antique furniture, oddly complimented by the modern books, and music paraphernalia that littered the shelves and chairs._

_Lysander snapped his fingers before his friends face to regain his attention._

_"What?!" Castiel snapped. As the night had drawn on he had become more himself as he became more comfortable, and was showing signs of irritability._

_Lysander was used to it though. "Castiel, do you like men?" He said so casually it could be called a social crime._

_Castiel scooted away from him and glared at him confused, "What the heck is that supposed to mean?! Are you crazy? If it wasn't me who youre asking you'd be in trouble right now!" he went off, quietly though._

_Lysander slapped a hand over his mouth and asked again, "Castiel just tell me, do you think you're in love with him?" He was very serious in asking this._

_Castiel felt a weird flutter in his stomach and his heart luched in his chest. He squirmed under the hand of his friend and tired to kick him off._

_But Lysander was strong. He pinned him down and grabbed his face, lifting it to his own whispering, "Don't take this seriously, I just want to know…"_

_Before he could protest he felt lips against his. A surge of heat left his body and raced from his face to …. Other areas and he gripped at the one above him trying to pull him off._

_Finally Lysander gave and lifted up off him only to be punched in the face, which he surprisingly took quite well._

_"So.. does that mean you didn't like it?" he asked, placing a hand to his cheek crusioulsy, an eyebrow raised._

_Castiel didn't answer but just glared at him unimpressed._

_"I have a girlfriend you know…" He muttered through his teeth._

_Lysander narrowed his eyes at him as Castiel was still red in the face as he swung around to face the opposite direction. He folded his arms over himself and wiped his mouth on his sleeve nervously._

_"And?" Lysander prodded._

_Throwing a packet of cigarettes at him castiel muttered angrily, "And I had a boyfriend until he left me…"_

_Lysander smiled and then chucked the packet jokingly into an empty waste bin._

_"You should stop smoking. Not only for the obvious reason, but your mouth tastes horrible. So you know." He teased._

_Castiel leapt up and then before leaving he swivelled around and pointed defensively at the white haired young man:_

_"Don't you EVER do that again! Okay?" He said in a whisper-shout._

_Lysander raised his hand and promised._

_Castiel stood there still blushing like mad, and then added a little more weakly, "And thanks. Not for the damn kiss, but for the.. um.. advice."_

_"More like induced epiphany, my friend." Lysander teased. Castiel was about to retort when he decided, once again, to take someone's advice and just left._

And this is where he was now; heading to his tech school thinking about this little flame that still existed inside him. He didn't know how to cnvey his feelings to a guy who had tried to end the whole thing. What was the point in suddenly confessing?

Did he think it would somehow make him come back?

He sighed and pulled out his own phone to look at a message he'd just received.

[[Nat:

"Hey, I thought you'd like this dog my friend owns. I hate her but she looks like Demon. I hope you at least are reading my messages. Thinking of you, even in my nightmares

PS theyre nightmares because you're in them ;P (lol just kidding)

1 attachment … JPEG file: She_demon_dog… ]]

He opened up the file to see a nice German shepherd looking dog. He snorted, as Nathaniel could never get Demon's breed right, but whatever, the dog was cute.

His thumb hovered over the 'reply' button… but he decided not yet.

"One day… one day I'll make it up to you… before it's too late."

To be continued..

**A/N: Hehehee... I went there with Lysander. a friend of mine, who knows who she is, makes Rosalya her a-little-too-forward character so I've gone and made Lysander mine.. well it was unintentional of course but i just happened to see a minor similarity XD**

**I wonder how nat would go down finding out what he'd left behind? I wonder why castiel is taking advice... I wonder if Voaz even knows this yet.. oAo **

**Find out next time OwO/**


	6. A Wedding In France pt1

"Kentin" Amber sighed tiredly from her side of the bed, her hair a mess, her blankets thrown off to the bottom of the bed, the fan on full blast oscillating across the room.

It was one of those summer nights where neither of the two lovers could truly get to sleep. This usually led to odd things like obscure conversations about strangely deep things such as life, the world, and so on, or eating in bed… or both.

Kentin hummed in reply, too lazy to speak. His hair was also stuck to his face and he was resisting the urge to just sleep in a bath of cold water just to kill the heat.

"Will you finally man up and propose to me already?" she moaned, clearly discontent with his complacency of the matter of their marital affairs.

She was NOT content with just mingling around aimlessly with no future goals. She wanted more, and she knew he knew it, but was too shy and scared to act on it, so instead was decidedly comfortable with leaving her hanging.

Kentin looked at her, a tightening chest and a raging heart beat causing the air to seem thicker and hotter. He glanced over the beautiful woman he cared for so deeply and in a sharp pang of guilt, knowing he was stringing her along if he continued this any longer, finally he answered:

"Yes. Yes, I want you to marry me."

-Three months later-

Castiel felt the familiar buzz of a certain blonde's email go off in his pocket. Pausing from his paper work he flicked the phone out and unlocked it.

He figured it would be yet another lame picture, or a chain mail joke which nat somehow thought it was funny, but within two or three sentences of the message, he nearly dropped the phone.

He leapt out of his seat, swinging his legs wildly around the barstool of his home counter, and he stumbled and ran his way into the room in which Voaz was sitting.

He was at a loss for words, his mouth moving and no noises that were easily recognisable were coming out.

"Hey! Hey! Slow down Castiel… what's wrong?" Voaz got up and tried to console him, his eyes were distracted and his face was so focussed and serious.

"H-here! This! In this, the…the message! Read!" he shoved his phone at her and then shook it around until she grabbed it gingerly from his hand before forcefully seating him in the arm chair to avoid letting him hurt himself.

"If you keep spazzing out like this, Cas, you're going to make me look like I'm in a coma…." She commented

Finally she turned her attention to the message:

_"From- Unknown Caller"_

_Hey there! Castiel, Voaz It's been a while since I sent a conversational email to you guys, but I apologise. These past three months I have been so busy I've had to put some things aside. However, to break the message drought, I bring you good news!_

_Two months from now my sister, Amber will be getting married, and I as the man of honor was given special permission to invite the two most precious people in my life to share this precious moment of hers with._

_Please let me know before the third of June whether or not you will be able to make it. The wedding and party will be held on the 15__th__ of July and will be held at the Cathédrale de Notre Dame (because my sister is just expensive like that ;)_

_I can help you two out with any flight and accommodation expenses since my sister is loaded._

_Speaking of which, we'll be getting paid for a photo shoot for the magazine she's a model for. We WOULD be paying the magazine for the shoot, but since they've got a bridal section they pounced on the opportunity to get some easy shots, and genuine ones at that. A few small fees, of course, but nothing in comparison to the payout_

_If you don't want to be photographed or interviewed then let me know and I will add you to the list of guests who wish to remain anonymous._

_And lastly, I really want to see you two again. As you know I'm truly regretful for the way in which I left you two, and I want this to be the start of a new relationship for the three of us._

_I hope to hear from you soon, Nat xoxo_

Voaz and Castiel exchanged glances and then their eyes looked to the message again, the grins on their faces not dying for hours to come that evening.

"Got some travel money set aside?" Voaz asked Castiel

"Yeah! Where the heck do you think I pay for all my stuff? My folks wire money into my account and tell me to save it for expenses of living, and travel. I'm pretty sure they'd approve of this anyway.."

He lifted his phone up out of her hands and said, "What better a place to attend a wedding than in the city of love?" He purred in a fake French accent, teasing voaz yet again with the age old "France" character joke.

Voaz groaned and punched him playfully, and they fell onto the couch, laughing.

A while passed and they curled up together as they prepared their reply.

A/N: Hallo! I still exist! I decided to post this half-chapter since writing the full ones is getting to be too much of a task. This is as far in this chapter as ive been for a while now and decided to post it so ou can have something to read while I try to sort out the rest of the story,

So expect a lot more short chapters! Lol!

I hope you've enjoyed so far J


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